What is the reason for having a 4 chambered stomach in most herbivores?

Answer 1

he stomach is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Although there is considerable variation among the different groups, and there are some fish that don't have one at all, in general it has two functions. Firstly, it helps to store food for later digestion so that you don't constantly have to be eating, and secondly, it begins the digestion of food both by physically grinding it up and by mixing it with acid and digestive enzymes. Sometimes these functions are separated to some extent - for example, birds have a large crop for food storage, and a smaller true stomach below it that digests the food, and includes a muscular, grinding gizzard (a useful thing when you have no teeth). But the most complex stomachs of all are found in mammals.

A cow does, indeed, have four stomachs. Or, at least, it has a stomach divided into four separate chambers, which amounts to the same thing. Nor, of course, are cows alone in this. It's a feature found throughout the cattle family, which is a fairly large group consisting of over a hundred species - most of them antelopes, although it also includes the sheep and goats. The cattle were not the first family to evolve the feature, and we know that because its also found in all their close relatives, including such animals as deer and giraffes. In fact, the only trulycloven-hoofed animals that don't have four stomachs are the pigs and peccaries - which is why they aren't kosher.

Answer 2

Having a 4 chambered stomach, such as in ruminants, allows herbivores to efficiently break down plant material through the process of fermentation. Each chamber performs specific functions in digesting and extracting nutrients from cellulose-rich plant material, enabling herbivores to maximize their nutrient absorption from their diet.

Answer 3

because herbivores chew the food again in the form of cud. and humans do not .